“Yeah, I’m in quite a different situation than I’ve ever been before. To be able to go there and be a part of putting that banner up to the ceiling, to be there to support everybody who was part of that, is a great moment. I knew it was going to be a big moment, going back to the rink, There will be some different feelings on my part, as to what the future holds.

“I’m going to have to make a decision sooner or later. I don’t have a time frame. It’s hard for me to judge ‘soon’ - within two weeks, or two months. I don’t know exactly what ‘soon’ means. I hope the sooner the better, but there still could be some time here.”

-- Scott Niedermayer on returning to see the Ducks raise their Stanley Cup banner and his playing future.

“I think over the next few games, we’ll look to give him some power-play time. With the way our power play has been, we could use some experimentation there and that’s where Sam’s skills shine through.”

“Our awareness needs to be better and our focus needs to be better in what we’re doing. It’s amazing when we decide to play the way we can, we play extremely well. But we seem to go from one extreme to the other, and we’ve got to stop doing that.”

“I think my game has changed a lot. When I was younger, I took more chances. Now, I know when the play’s not there to go up off the glass; I know when guys are open to move it to them right away and then follow up the rush. We’ve got some skilled guys, and the best thing I can do is get them the puck as quick as I can.”

“I don’t think by me playing in Marty’s spot means that I’m replacing him. I don’t think any one player on this team can replace Marty Havlat. It’s going to take increased efforts by a lot of different people. I’m going to continue to do what I do: create energy and use my speed to get on loose pucks and, hopefully, put the puck in the net a few times.”

“I was really not going to play. I was very irritated at the way things had gone and were moving for me and people turning their back on me. But then you have a guy like Doug Wilson give you a call and say you can’t end your career like that, you’ve had too great a career, and give me one more shot at it. That put so much life back into me; just the loyalty and friendship put the life back into it immediately and got me excited to get back to work again.”

“I remember what it was like for me, coming from the Czech (Republic). New language, new streets, new people, new everything. People helped me out, so it’s my turn to help him out, now that he’s in the same boat.”

“We wanted to see if anyone else could complement the twins and so far I think Taylor, in that one game, has been the best. Taylor had been pretty average and had been told; ‘It’s now.’ So he knew he had to have a good game and he did have a good game against Calgary. And that needs to continue.”

“A lot of bad luck. I was hoping this season would be a great season to play as many games as I could. Now I have to deal with another problem, (but) that’s the way it is, and hopefully it’s not going to be that bad.”

-- Martin Havlat after suffering a shoulder injury that has sidelined him indefinitely.

***

“I read where they’re not going to trap as much. I’ll believe that ... later. They’ve still got the best goalie in the game, and Brent has been successful wherever he’s been. I’m sure he’s got the players’ attention. When you’ve won everywhere, it’s easy to command respect. The last three or four years Jersey has lost people and everybody says they’re in trouble ... and they always finish with 100 points. They’ll do it again.”

-- Ottawa coach John Paddock on the Devils.

***

“There’s not much tax on 65 bucks a week in juniors. That’s a big change for me. That was kind of a letdown, but it’s fine. I think I’ll do OK.”

-- Minnesota rookie James Sheppard on becoming acquainted with the tax man after receiving his first paycheck.

***

“We have to decide how good we want to be. I don’t know what you want to call it ... we just have to go out and play at the start. We’re letting the game dictate our effort. Our effort should be dictating the game, instead of vice versa.”

“I thought last year he played at a pretty impressive level. Just to keep getting better is a great sign. Those are pretty lofty standards to set to come in as a youngster, but his approach to training camp this year was he looked quicker and as determined as he was last year. His intelligence and the way the puck follows him around is pretty unusual.

“There is a difference in being a talent and being a player; and Ron is starting to show signs of being a player. Conditioning, fitness, positional play, all of those things are becoming part of his game.”